Under his [a]pendics.shuffle alias, Ken Gibson departs from the turbulence of his better-known work as Eight Frozen Modules to inflame the feet rather than the cerebrum.  The prevailling structures are distinctly tech-house: direct, jacking and funky.  While the upbeat mood of the five songs is similar in feel to Akufen or Crackhaus, the coloration of the samples themselves lies somewhere ibetween the vibrant Cuisinart beats of the former, and the gray, stark clatterings of the latter.

The bassy groove of “Since Yesterday” is a surefire party starter, shuffling smoothly amid a company of squishy keys and myriad clicks; treading similar territory, “Whichy One” substitutes everted vocal samples for hard-drive errors.  “Clense You” is more tech-y and subtler, shedding flecks of chrome from its streamlined fuselage, shuddering while still maintaining a powerful, propulsive momentum.  The only disposable cut is “Dimished Shift,” an eerie conglomerate of deep voices and synth pads that acts as a vestigial ambient outro to an otherwise robust release.

—John H. DeGroot, Grooves

Ken Gibson, aka (a)pendics.shuffle, aka Eight Frozen Modules, former member of Furry Things and remixer/producer of everyone and his robodog, makes dance music. However, he has a problem: he doesn’t follow the formula that 50,000 other DJ/producers cling to. In other words, he couldn’t give a crap about the 64-bar intro, the filter-sweep-bridge-from-the-breakdown-to-the-climax or the drama strings (think of that high-pitched synth fodder from Madonna’s “Vogue"). Instead, his work finds its lot sandwiched in-between the more beat-friendly tracks of the Orthlorng Musork posse or Mille Plateaux kids—though his music is far too complex and interesting to be lumped in with those guys. Gibson’s focus on sounds (lots of them) works in tandem with his get-your-ass-on-the-dance-floor grooves. Snippets of guitars, drills, springs, melodies created from unnamed noises, sub-bass tones and an unlimited bank of percussion sounds come together on the first four tracks. Gibson crafts thin-yet-complex textures over a steady pulse; each track makes your ears and brain tingle, ensuring that you can’t simply zone out. He ends the set with an exploration in ambience ("Diminished Shift"), white noise mixing with washes of digitally aliased and pitch-shifted drones—a texture that reveals its complexity after five or six listens.

Gibson’s mixing and engineering skills show an experienced veteran in the computer music field, panning and fitting the pieces of his collage together without a single seam showing, dropping out sounds to create listener focus and avoid sensory overload.

No matter what moniker he wears, Gibson continues his path as the master of cerebral electronic music. If the term Intelligent Dance Music ever made sense—and c’mon, it conjures images of guilty professors dancing around a shade-drawn office—it does so here.

—Dave Madden, Splendid

Better known as Eight Frozen Modules, Californian beatmaker Ken Gibsons latest , interestingly puntuated project has a low-key, almost european feel.Five cuts of the most precise , staccato beats , “Plop Skop”, for instance , is tough yet tiny , while “Since Yesterday” could be mini Japanese robots chatting off-duty.

—Simon Hawkins, Urb

Seattle’s Orac imprint reaches south to Los Angeles to secure this glitchy , bleepy , round-up from Ken Gibson , AKA Eight Frozen Modules. Spanning five tracks , The Lavender Neglect EP pushes glitchy minimalism a few steps further with its crispy, off the wall snips , chips and blips.  Sound interesting? Just imagine Akufen and John Tejada getting together for a 48-hour studio session.Its like that!

—Dean DeCosta, BPM

Ken Gibson ist auch noch 8 Frozen Modules, den ihr bestimmt von Orthlorng kennt, wo gerade ein Album von ihm erschien, seine anderen Pseudonyme sind weniger bekannt. Für Orac macht er die bezauberndsten groovigsten Minimalhouseswinger mit leichtem Houseflair und soetwas wie einem computerisierten Latinsound, der ziemlich abstrakt und vertrackt aber immer mit smoothen Grooves durch manche Stücke zieht, wenn es nicht grade Jazz ist, flink hüpfende Basslines oder eben einfach der skurrile perkussive Soundeffekt der ihn erwischt hat und einen zum Tanzen bringt. Sehr vielseitig aber immer mit einem leichten digital raffinierten Grinsen. Orac ist und bleibt eins meiner Lieblingslabel.

—bleed, de:bug [*****]